this morning on "early today" -- russia indicated is a geopolitical foe. >> the 1980s are calling in their foreign policy bank. >> who won, who lost and did the final debate help undecided voters decide? bill and hillary clinton visit haiti together to assess progress. they'll reveal a deeply personal claim. and the most affordable cities to live in the united states. cities to live in the united states. is yours one of them? captions paid for by nbc-universal television good morning. i'm lynn berry.

after the third debate between president obama and republican nominee mitt romney, there are just 14 days left before american voters choose their next president. according to a cbs news instant polls on uncommitted voters, president obama was a clear two to one victor with 53% saying he won. governor romney got 23%. 24% called it a tie. a cnn orc national poll called it closer with 48% saying obama won while 40% picked obama. for more we go to nbc's steve handlesman who's in florida for us. steve, good morning. >> reporter: hi, lynn. thanks. good morning from boca raton, florida. the debate here last night was clearly the most combative so far. though surprising to some, not on the issue of libya. mitt romney was able to make his larger point, his claim that america is weaker now overseas than it was four years ago.

mitt romney and barack obama came to their third and final debate tied in national polls, but their tv audience seemed sure to be smaller. baseball's national league playoffs and monday night viewers got viewers who missed the face-off on muslim extremist. >> i congratulate him on taking out osama bin laden and going after the leadership in al qaeda. we can't kill our way out of this. >> governor romney, i'm glad you recognize al qaeda is a threat. a few months ago you said russia was the biggest threat. what we need to do with respect to the middle east is strong, steady leadership, not wrong and reckless leadership. >> attacking me is not an agenda. i have clear eyes on this. i'm not going to wear rose colored glasses when it comes to russia or mr. putin. >> what about iran. >> there are ten thousand centrifuges spinning uranium making a threat to the united states and the world. that's unacceptable to us.

it's essential for a president to show strength. >> mr. obama said he has. we've put in the toughest, most crippling sanctions ever. >> they do work. you're seeing it in the economy. >> the disagreement i have with mr. romney, during this am ka pain he's often talked as if we should take premature military action. >> of course military action is the last resort. >> reporter: they touched on economic issues. >> i will get america working. >> both home and abroad he has proposed wrong and reckless policies. >> reporter: their final face to face. the election two weeks ago. >> reporter: again, this race looks tied and both sides agree, nothing, no one single thing is more likely to affect the outcome of this campaign than this debate. in boca raton, florida, i'm steve handlesman, nbc news. lynn, back to you. >> steve, thanks so much.

nbc's andrea mitchell has been leading our truth squad. she zeroed in on one of mitt romney's most frequent attack lines on the president. take a listen. >> then the president began what i've called an apology tour going to various nations in the middle east and criticizing america. i think they looked at that and saw weakness. >> bob, let me just respond. nothing governor romney just said is true starting with this notion of me apologizing. this has been probably the biggest whopper that's been told during the course of this campaign. >> reporter: the president pushes back very hard on this. in fact, he never used the word apologize when he went overseas to cairo in 2009 explaining that he thought the u.s. had made a few mistakes in dealing with the world. many consider it a matter of diplomacy and nuance. romney points to several examples including when president obama said in 2009 that, quote, america has shown some arrogance and been

dismissive, even deris sieve. romney claims that shows weakness which is harmful to the u.s. place in the world. >> governor romney has charged repeatedly that the president hasn't been as close a friend or ally as he could or should be. let's take a look at this. >> and i think that when the president said he was going to create daylight between ourselves and israel, that they noticed that as well. all of these things suggested, i think, to the iranian mullahs, hey, we can keep pushing along here, we can keep talks going on but we're just going to keep on spinning centrifuges. >> there's never been any proof that the president said that. the only source is an article in the washington post by scott wilson who wrote that the president said this in a meeting with the leaders of many jewish organizations. >> that was nbc's andrea mitchell reporting. a note for you, this week brian williams will be going on the road for an exclusive interview with president obama which you will see on "today,"

nightly news and rock center. here's a look at other stories making news in america. we'll begin with new developments surrounding jesse jackson jr.'s battle with bipartisan d bipolar disorder. he's said to be in a fragile position. davis and rush visited him in his washington, d.c., home. they acknowledged he needed continued treatment. he's headed back to mayo clinic for further in patient care. philadelphia firefighters were left scratching their head after a tire crashed through a home there. it seemed the whole in the roof was caused by a tire from an air 34r5i7b. the officials learned that it came from a truck which collided by a car on the expressway. a new exhibit of showing off the beauty of new york city's subway system. the display pays homage to the miss subway contest.

from 1941 to 1976 they selected a working class woman to wear the crown each month. a new book details what kind of impact the contest had on the pin ners. finally, a group of florida divers received some artistic inspiration from this year's presidential candidates. that's right, they carved the faces of mitt romney and president obama into pumpkins. the contest also featured designs that were less politically driven. here's nbc meteorologist bill karins, he has the weather center forecast. >> snoopy has a few votes. >> stay focused, everyone. >> yes. good morning. yesterday in california was where some of the worst weather in the country was. we had a couple of tornadoes. some of those were near the sack kra men tow areas. by california standards it did get everyone's attention. the other thing we have to worry

about as we go through the next 48 hours is what's going to happen down in the caribbean. we are watching tropical storm sandy. this one is heading north wards. jamaica, cuba, then the central bahamas. this storm tracks not all that far away from florida. we're not expecting a direct impact. with the uncertainty coming this close to florida, we should see rip current, large waves on the east coast beaches. then the storm is off to the east coast sometime sunday into monday. where is the storm heading after that? a lot of questions. this high pressure is going to block it. it's not going to easily head out to sea. it's a race between the cool air and cold air. this could get sucked up to the north. we haven't ruled out new england impacts and the canadian maritimes. there's not a lot of bad weather throughout the southern half of the country, just showers and warm weather. that's a look at your national forecast, now here's a look at the weather outside your window.

chance of showers and storms cleveland and chicago today. chicago is dodging those storms yesterday. st. louis, i know you had some large hale also. i don't think it's going to be quite as concentrated as it was yesterday. notice the warm temperatures, still in the 70s and 80s in many areas. the warm weather continues, but a lot of questions about what's going to happen the day before halloween next week and halloween with the possible east coast storm. bill, thanks so much. bill and hill try to haiti and iran's president on the outs. the fda investigating deaths that may be associated with monster energy drink. you're watching "early today."

welcome back to "early today." here are some stories making news this morning. former president bill clinton and secretary of state hillary clinton led a star studded event. during her speech secretary

clinton revealed her and her husband's deep connection to that country. >> we came here for the first time together just after we were married and fell in love with haiti and have just celebrated our 37th wedding anniversary, which is exhausting to think about. iranian president mahmoud amadinejad is blasting his country. and an italian court has convicted seven scientists and experts of manslaughter for failing to warn residents of a 2009 earthquake that killed more than 300 people in central italy. the defense argued there's no reliable way of predicting quakes. they each face six years in prison. well, in health news, is there a link between monster

energy drinks and the death of five people? well, that's what the food & drug administration wants to know. they're launching an investigation into claims against the highly caffeinated drink. the company is also being sued by the family of a 14-year-old girl who had a heart attack after drinking monster energy two 24 ounce drinks in 24 hours. a spokesperson for monster said they don't believe their products caused any deaths. now let's get a check of wall street. the dow closed at 13,345 after adding two points yesterday. the s&p was up a fraction. the nasdaq gained 11. taking a look at overseas trading on this tuesday in tokyo, the nikkei was up 3 points while in hong kong the hang seng rose 145. well, call it high tech tuesday. up first, the market's react to yahoo's encouraging earnings after the belle monday. next, apple will be front and center before, during, and after its much behind ipad mini event.

then after the bell, facebook's second earnings report as a public company. elsewhere, despite signs of life from the housing market, realty track's new election 2012 report shows 65% of local housing markets nationwide are worse off than four years ago. more sobering data comes to us from the pew center which finds 35 to 44-year-olds are the most worried about retirement. that is a stark contrast from just three years ago when generation x was the least concerned about retirement funds. a new study ranks the nation's capital as the most affordable u.s. city. the study factors housing and transportation costs against median income. baltimore, philadelphia, minneapolis, and boston rounded out the top five. and finally, what does this guy have in common with brad pitt and george clooney. not as much as he thought. las vegas police are now looking for the 31 southern california

man. they say he stole $1.6 million worth of casino chips from the venetian's resort. those chips are virtually impossible to cash in undetected. coming up next, the champions of the national league are headed to the world series, plus a painful body slam sack on monday night football. your sports headlines are straight ahead. well, if you live in the northern half of the country, quick changing weather is the rule as we go throughout the next four or five days. your forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today." every time someone chooses finish over cascade,

it sparks a movement. look ! no ugly spots ! and see that shine ! you've got to try finish. because once they try finish, they can't keep it to themselves. i'm switching for good. wow ! awesome ! finish is seriously good. cannot believe how great it works. incredible shine. i won't use anything else. love, love, love finish ! so far over a million neighbors, friends, and family

have switched to finish. join the finish revolution. recommended by more dishwasher brands worldwide. well, in sports, let's start with baseball and the decisive game seven of the national league championship series. it was a very one-sided game as san francisco pounded out hit after hit against st. louis and run after run as they shut out the cards 9-0. the end of the game was played in pouring rain. >> that should end it. and who else? scutaro. and the giants have won the pen nent. >> didn't take away from the celebrating. game one of the 101 series starts tomorrow night. barry zito for the tigers and justin verlander for the tigers.

lions, tigers and bears. brandon marshall with a 7-yard touchdown pass. in the second quarter, cutler got sacked in what looked more like a wwe body slam. that looks like it hurt. he returned and the bears held on to beat the lions, 13-7. looks like lance armstrong has officially been stripped of his seven tour de france titles. the texas company that paid him $12 million for winning those titles is threatening a lawsuit to get back that money. look at this basket brawl. this is the scene before tipoff at a european baseball game. fans charged onto the court. they were throwing chairs, flares and other things at rival flares. police in riot gear had to rush in. they made arrests while the players were brought to the locker rooms until the fans

calmed down. the team whose fans started the chaos lost the game. just ahead, ellen gets high honors and jessica's pink italian wedding. plus, running with the bulls american style. you're watching "early today." p

honors and jessica's pink

. welcome back to "early today." here's what you need to know heading out early today. areas through buffalo and syracuse, a chance of rain developing.

some of the showers could work their way towards new york city. possibility of afternoon showers and storms from minneapolis to chicago. dry and warm many areas of the south. pacific northwest into the northern rockies will remain stormy right into wednesday. look at billings. that's a hint of the cold air to come, follow beings. 39 with a mixture of rain and snow in montana. >> that's perfect. >> that's what's heading for the middle of the country. >> bill, thank you. now for some entertainment news. ellen degeneres won the highest prize in american humor. she was praised as a pioneering female comic whose edgy variety show has helped define daytime television in recent years. she looks excited. there are reports jessica booel dished the traditional white wedding dress for her vows with just continue timberlake friday and went with a nontraditional pink and white gown from an italian designer. plus, tmz reports a plus

size site has offered christina aguilera. whether or not aguilera will accept the offer remains to be seen. this comes to us from kpnx, 12 news in phoenix, arizona. american dare devils added some western flair to their imitation of running with the bulls. look at this, the stampeding herd chased drown hundreds of adrenaline junk keys. they didn't gore anyone but they did injure some people including one man who was sent flying into a fence. yikes. that does not sound fun. i'm lynn berry. this is "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

>> you're watching wbal-tv 11. live, local, late-breaking. this is 11 news today at 5:00 a.m. >> good morning. it will be a nice stretch of whether coming up -- weather coming up. it might want to take a light jacket to start the day. temperatures into the upper 70's later today. a mixture of sun and clouds. about a 20% for a sprinkle. we will come back and check the seven day forecast going into the weekend. >> 49 degrees at the airport.

>> the final debate and the final push for votes. we have politics coming up next. >> police need your help to solve a a year old mystery. >> running smoothly so far on the major roadways

[captioning made possible by constellation energy group] captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- >> you're watching wbal-tv 11. live, local, late-breaking. this is 11 news today at 5:00 a.m. >> good morning. i'm mindy basara. >> and i'm stan stovall. thanks for joining us for 11 news today. >> a nice day. very warm. >> upper 70's this after nine. you can call this indian summer. enjoy it while it is here. enjoy it while it is here.